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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed many people are wondering where the money will go. Wonder no more! For information and a state-by-state funds breakdown go to the Democratic Policy Committee website.
American AgCredit pays farmers and ranchers in cash dividends
AgCredit pays California/Nevada farmers and ranchers more than $14.7 million in cash dividends. Recently, the nation’s 7th largest Farm Credit cooperative, American AgCredit, announced the distribution of $14.7 million in net income to its members. In the past four years, American AgCredit disbursed more that $64 million to its members. For more information visit the American AgCredit website, under News & Events.
Grant Opportunities
Enterprise™ Green Communities Planning and Construction Grants
Developers committed to providing green affordable housing can apply for grant funds from Enterprise Green Communities. Two national awards are offered each year. Grant amounts range from $20,000 to $75,000. Charrettes and Sustainability Training Grants (post construction) also are available. Grant guidelines and applications are available at http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/
Online Resources
NeighborWorks® adds new E-Learning courses
NeighborWorks is offering two self-paced online courses: Foreclosure Basics and Board Oversight and Governance. Two more courses are coming soon: FHA-Insured Loans: an Affordable Mortgage Option and A Board Member's Guide to Ensuring Organizational Health. For more information visit NeighborWorks’ website at: http://nw.org/network/training/training.asp
The Reinvestment Fund launches new mapping system
The Reinvestment Fund recently launched PolicyMap, a program that combines technology and analytical tools to improve data accessibility. The program has more than 4,000 indicators related to demographics, real estate markets, money and income, education, crime and more. For information, go to: http://www.policymap.com/.
Publications
NeighborWorks™ releases home buying guides
The Consumer Home Buying Guides, a set of four consumer-focused guides that helps consumers with the home-buying process, is the newest addition to NeighborWorks practitioner resources. Developed by Fannie Mae Foundation, these guides deliver practical, specific and concise information in a user-friendly format. For more information on the guides, including translations into a number of languages and ordering details, go to: http://www.nw.org/network/training/homeownership/homebuyingguides.asp
RCAC publishes green building guide
RCAC's Green Building Guide, Design Techniques, Construction Practices & Affordable Housing Materials will be available for download (pdf) in March. The publication provides information on developing a comprehensive green building project by using collaborative design processes, and modern building science, technology and materials application. Topics included in the guide range from how to develop a successful project team to how to use recycled materials on a green built project.
Shelter Force online publication
The National Housing Institute publishes Shelter Force an online publication, which offers valuable information for affordable housing and community building organizations. For example, the spring 2008 issue focused on greening communities with articles, such as The Green New Deal and Taking the LEED in Your Community. More issues of Shelter Force are available at: http://www.shelterforce.org.
Small Cities Resource
The Oregon Opportunity Network has published Five Things Small Cities Can Do To Encourage Affordable Housing. The tips are available at: http://www.aocdo.org/docs/5ThingsCitiesCanDo.pdf
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